Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

Pages

Berry french toast + a hike in Griffith Park

Buh-reakfast!!!! My parents never really taught me the whole "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" thing. But that's mostly because I was that weird kid who demanded leftover spaghetti or rice and bacon (my mom's family's secret fried rice recipe) for breakfast. Bacon and eggs weirded me out. Pancakes were too sweet with syrup soaked into them. I was never one for the fluorescent-colored cereal flooded in milk either.

It wasn't until I experienced french toast - that crispy, warm, eggy, delicately sweet goodness - that I realized I'd been missing out on some other traditional breakfast foods. Needless to say, I'm a little obsessed. Thankfully french toast takes a bit of time to prep, otherwise I'm afraid they'd name me "The French Toast Fanatic" and I think I'd start to ooze honey and bread from my pores. It's just fun taking a nice crusty loaf of your favorite rustic bread and soaking in the sweet eggy mixture, watching it bubble and crisp, filling the kitchen with heavenly smells.

This morning I had planned to reheat some leftovers for breakfast. But halfway into removing the lid to the tupperware, I had a culinary epiphany: FRENCH TOAST. We were planning to go on a hike, and we needed tasty tasty fluffy sweet fuel.

I whipped up some batter, sliced our buckwheat loaf from the farm mar, and made us some of the best french toast I've attempted. Adding some warm berries to the top didn't hurt either. We had more than enough fuel to send us charging up the mountain on our little hike in Griffith Park.

On our hike we had a little photoshoot at this poorly painted water tank and then wandered through this amazing little area called Amir's garden at one of the switchbacks. I like to imagine Amir is a man who comes every morning to tend to his secret garden, brings a small croissant and tea, and sits on one of the little hidden benches to clear his mind and soak in the fresh air above the smog. It was a sweet little spot, and I'll be going back, perhaps with a picnic next time.

We skipped our way along an exposed ridge to an open field that looked like an abandoned plot of terraced agricultural land. Not sure what was going on there, but it was neat seeing such a strange sight while on a hike. The views were also refreshingly new as we looked out toward Glendale and eastern Burbank below and we could see little bits of the L.A. Zoo and the red rooftop of the Autry Museum. We also caught sight of a fuzzy deer! He was too quick and a fraidie cat for me to get a picture.

I'm happy I surprised us with eggy french toastie goodness for breakfast. And you should surprise someone with it too! Oh, and go on a hike. Cause they're the best. =)

Berry French Toast
Makes 2 servings

What you need:

For the toast
1 egg
a healthy splash of milk (about 1/4 cup)
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of vanilla
1 Tbsp Greek yogurt
4 slices of crusty bread
butter

For the berry sauce
frozen berries
honey

Steps:

Making french toast is pretty simple and delicious. The keys are to be sure your bread is soaked through just enough but isn't too soggy and be sure to cook the toast low and slow to get a nice golden brown.

First use a shallow wide dish to make your batter. Add your egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and yogurt. Give it a stir.

Slice your bread into thin slices. I like to cut mine about a centimeter thick.

Drop your bread into the prepared batter and let it soak in the mixture. Let sit for about a minute. Flip the bread and let it soak in on the other side.

Add a pat of butter to your pan on low heat and once melted, swirl the pan around to coat the bottom, then add your eggified bread to the pan.

Once the bread begins to show little bubbles through the batter (about 4-5 minutes) you can flip your toast. Check to see if it's golden brown and cooked. Once you've flipped it, the toast only needs another 2-3 minutes to cook. Set your two slices aside and repeat the process for the other two slices of bread. While your second serving is cooking, warm about a cup of frozen berries in a bowl with a bit of honey and a dash of water until the mixture is saucy. You can optionally add a bit of corn starch to thicken the berry mixture.

Top your french toast with your berry mixture (and a bit of powdered sugar if you're like me!) You can also add a pat of butter to your french toast right when you take it out of the pan so your butter melts. Chris likes his all buttery and I like mine sweeter with extra sugar. Serve warm! Aka eat it fast =) Yum!